Jewish leaders defend Obama

Obama has been the subject of an email that has made the rounds in the Jewish community alleging that he is a Muslim, attended an Islamic madrassah in Indonesia, and took his oath of office on a Koran. None of the charges are true, and the campaign has published a detailed refutation on its Web site.

“These tactics attempt to drive a wedge between our community and a presidential candidate based on despicable and false attacks based on religion,” said the open letter, signed by heads of several national Jewish organizations. “We reject these efforts to manipulate members of our community into supporting or opposing candidates. Attempts of this sort to mislead and inflame voters should not be part of our political discourse and should be rebuffed by all who believe in our democracy.”